Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I like to bash the LCP based on many bad reviews, and all kinds of people with problems....

So I bought one. I'm going to the range today to test my new hammer spring on my revolver, and to shoot the LCP for the first time.

I'm going to take the camera and see what happens. I actually like the gun just on first impressions.

Just to give the LCP a head start I cleaned it up last night, and oiled some of the moving parts. We will see what happens.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Keep us posted. I'm on the fence about one right now. OT, I saw a Kahr Arms PM9 this weekend and almost bought it. It is a bit bigger but not by a whole lot.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I have learned that it is worthwhile to clean and lube all new purchases before bothering to take them to the range. My lessons have been myriad but it is now my only route. I am anxious to hear your review.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

If money is not a consideration go for the Rohrbaugh R9 or R9s. It's 9MM and basically the same size as the LCP. My Rohrbaugh is one of my favorite pistols.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...ohrbaugh-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...ohrbaugh-3.jpg

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I've never heard of a Rohrbaugh. But evidently the manufacturer thinks pretty highly of them.

Just a little bit pricey.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Pricey? Yes they are. Worth every penny to me. As far as pocket pistols go I previously owned a Kahr PM9 and I like the feel of this one much better.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Hey Luft, what didn't you like about the Kahr PM9? I picked up a Kahr CW9 a couple of months ago and really like it.

I'm 4th on the list for an LCP. Their just trickling in at a snails pace. After the lcp, I'm done buying guns. Looking at all the pending legislation it's good timing.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

What's the big hype about the Ruger LCP anyway? Been seeing signs up at guns stores. It's not like it's the first .380 in the world?

I have a colt mustang that works just fine.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

The hype is a bit overboard but there is some justification. It's a very compact .380. Most .380s are pretty much worthless for true concealed carry if you're the small guy. Trust me, I know, I'm tiny and .380 is my favorite caliber. The only thing that competes in price, size and weight for the caliber is the Kel-Tec P3AT. If you know of another competitor in those 3 arenas please let us know. There are guides on the web that detail how to basically refurbish a Kel-Tec so that it isn't quite the piece of garbage that comes from the factory. Face it, Kel-Tecs are rough little guns. Compact, light and cheap? Yes. Refined? No. Ruger has quite a legacy with a very high degree of brand respect. Every review I've seen on the LCP says this gun lives up to the Ruger name. I would expect this piece to not need sanding of the slide, feed ramp and follower to achieve 100% reliability. I'd expect it to not be picky about ammo. I'd expect it to fit my hand as well as yours. Why? Because it is a Ruger. Will it? Who really knows. All I know is the Kel-Tec created huge waves for years and now there is a bigger name stepping up with a real piece of competition. Why shouldn't the waves be just as big?
/rant and back to work

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

OK..... My girlfriend forgot to bring the camera.... No big deal everyone knows what an LCP is I presume. If not the manual can be found here.

The night befor the the range visit I field stripped the pistol, cleaned, and lubed it. I paid special attention to the where the slide meets the frame, the guide rod, and any place where the barrel touches the slide. I have "heard" that the LCP is a "wet" pistol meaning it operates best cleaned and lubed. I didn't go overboard I basically just gave it a good cleaning like I would any of my other pistols. To give it a fair chance I thought I would not fire it fresh from the box.

The LCP has a couple of noticable differences from the Kel-Tec P3AT. These are worht noting if you are deciding between the two.



1. The LCP has a manual slide hold open, that can manually be used to... hold open the slide, but this does not lock the slide open after the last round fired. This can be used for chamber inspection, and chambering a round. The P3AT manual states that you should never manually chamber a round (pg. 10)?

2. Their is also a loaded chamber view to the rear of the bolt in the ejection port. This is a decent saftey indicator, but should not be used as a substitute for manually inspecting the chamber by pulling the slide rearward.

***No Manual Saftey, Double Action Only*** Carry with a holster(Nemesis), or risk shooting yourself. I always put one in the pipe so I don't have to rack the slide in the event I actually need to use it. This is safe with a holster, but I personally would not throw a pistol in my pocket with a round in the pipe. I want to make sure the gun goes off only if I intentionally pull the trigger.... doo doo doo.... doo doo doo

The night prior to shooting in addition to a cleaning I dry cycled some rounds from each of my 2 magazines to see what would happen. The magazine that comes with the pistol had a finger grip extension and would fail to eject every third round. For some reason I could not figure out the casing would get stuck on the ejector and jam up in the ejection port?? This only happened with the magazine that came with the pistol. I purchased the other magazine seperately, and it did not have a finger grip extension. Even know this is a minor issue it could be a problem if I needed to manually remove the 3rd round from the chamber in a self defense situation. Luckily there were no problems cycling rounds when I actually fired the pistol.

Having said that the pistol was pleasant to fire. I only fired 50 rounds of 95gr Magtech FMJ, but did so without any issue whatsoever. The mags are easy to load, the trigger pull is not great, but significantly lighter than my Model 60 S&W in double action (even with a lightened hammer spring). The only thing really lacking on this pistol is the sights which are almost non-existent. The purpose however is not to be a long range pistol. I was able to acheive some 2 inch groups of 3 15yrds with great care and concentration.

My girlfrind also fired a couple mags worth.. she did not have the greatest accuracy at 7 or 15 yards but everything was definately on par with "minute of bad guy".

The recoil was snappy but minimal. I doubt this pistol will be sending anyone away in tears, but may be hard for some to manage with such a small grip area. I definately reccomend the finger grip extension for the magazines.

Crimson Trace makes a laser sight specifically for the LCP. I will probably be purchasing this, as I am convinced it will make the pistol a better defense weapon, while keeping the footprint small.

Unless you are at a few arms lengths away from your attacker aquiring the proper shot picture on one of these little buggers could prove to be difficult. So I would also assume you don't want to waste any shots with this weapon past 15-20 feet.

For now I will admit that I should shut my mouth if I haven't tried a pistol; however, there are many people out there still having major issues with the LCP. I'll keep pumping rounds through mine, but I also count myself lucky.

If you want an LCP contact Dark Sun Surplus. No website or storefront, but I think you can do a phone order with them. They seem to have come accross a plethora of LCPs all post recall manufacture. I paid $329 for mine. People are paying as much as $400 for them, and I watched a P3AT go for $375 this weekend. With the additional features of the LCP I would pick it over the P3AT......

I have also heard some rumors about a .32 NAA barrel being made for the LCP, which I would love to get my hands on. Supposedly this round has much better ballistics than the .380 ACP.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Taurus debuted a new pistol at the Shot Show. Model 738 is another Kel-Tec knock off, and can be ordered with a titanium slide. I believe it weighs a couple ounces more than the Ket-Tec (without the titanium slide option), but "looks" much more pistol like. I kind of think the Kel-Tecs have a fake look to them. Just an opinion.

There are other .380's out there but they are not really competing in the same niche. The P3AT, LCP, and 738 are all basically the exact same pistol with minor design modifications. To see the Taurus 738:http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/tag/738/

Looks like Taurus adds onto the ruger by adding an ambidextrous magazine release, an extended 8 round magazine (option), and a titanium slide (option).

It actaully "looks" promising. We will see. I have no idea when they are supposed to start shipping.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

When the 738 starts shipping, it would be great to see a good, honest side-by-side review of all 3 pistols (738, P3AT and LCP). I'm in the market for a compact .380 Auto, but I'm near the point of saying screw it to these type of .380's and go with the Bersa Thunder. I know it's not in the same size/weight class, but I've fired one before and really like it.

Why .380 Auto over a small 9mm, you might well ask? Answer, I've always wanted one since I was a teenager and 40 years later, I think it's time! :biggrin:

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Kahr Arms has come out with a compact .380 that is comparible in size to these other contenders, but it is a different design. It is not a Kel-Tek nor Ruger clone. They are supposedly just now starting to ship, though I do not know anyone who has seen one yet.

This weekend I was able to see a Kahr PM9 and I was wowed by it. It is a little larger than these .380s though not a great deal larger. I may pick one of those up this weekend.

Anyway, back on topic, I think the Kahr P380 is a contender in the Ruger/Kahr .380 class, though certainly more expensive, by a lot.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I like the Kahr stuff for the design, clean edges and apparent reliability. I've gotten to fire the PPM9 and the CW9 a couple times now and for the life of me I cannot see why would someone would save a few dollars for the PM9 over the CW9.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

The PM9 is smaller by a good bit, right? Tell me more, I'd love to listen.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

OOPS... Wrong Model #s. Take my Original proposition and substitute MK9 in place of CW9. IINM, they are the same dimensions except the MK9 weighs a few ounces more and is all metal. It feels tons different, though. You are correct the CW9 is nowhere near as compact.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I am not mistaken, the only difference in specifications is the lack of polymer and an additional 8.1oz and $50 MSRP.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I have an early OMC 380 Backup with wood grips made in Calfornia before the design was converted to AMT.

1:http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/1191780...1102570921.jpg

http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/1191780...1102570359.jpg

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

The reason the Kahr cannot really compete here is because of the price. I also think that 13.5 ounces kind of puts it out of the weight range people are looking for with the P3AT & the LCP. The Taurus model is obviously set to compete here.

Unless the price of the Kahr can make it down to the low $400 range, I would say most people who are looking in the pocket gun niche are going to pass it bye.

Many people make a good argument about the 9mm as well... Once you get to a certain size you may as well go 9mm.

The only .380 that I think represents a real value in a larger size than the Kel-Tec/ LCP is the Bersa Thunder Plus. You basically get this weapon for the same price as the smaller KT/ LCP, but you get a 15+1 capacity.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Put another 50 rounds down the pipe... No hiccups... just bang bang. I did notice today shooting on fresh target that it shoots low when I use the actual sights. Believe it or not I am more accurate with the thing when I shoot it like a shotgun... just line up the barrel and pull the trigger.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Easily my favorite quote of the week. Thanks.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

I keep hearing great things about the Kel-Tec P-3AT (.380) as a pocket gun.

http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/p3at.htm

I just had a glock 36 shipped to my FFL for pickup next week. While the G36 would be a great CCW gun, the P3AT is just much smaller and has it's own place in a collection of various size guns for different purposes.

Gonna try one out soon.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Great gun the Mustang is....

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Here is a review video that does alot of side by side with the Ruger LCP and Kel-tec P3AT.

The Ruger LCP will be my next purchase. Owned a Colt Mustang Pocketlite in the early to mid 90's and wish I never sold it!

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

Since everyone is jumping around with different models:

SIG showed a new 380 at the Shot Show, they say similar to a Colt Mustang;

Length Overall: 5.5″
Height Overall: 3.9″
Width Overall: 1.1″

From the Sig press release:

SIG SAUER, Inc., the leading manufacturer of commercial, law enforcement, and military firearms, proudly introduces the P238, in .380 ACP; specifically designed as a concealed carry or backup handgun for legally armed citizens or law enforcement professionals.

Reacting to many requests from the marketplace for a subcompact SIG SAUER pistol, engineers designed the new P238 as a smart looking, small handgun built with the same accuracy and reliability as large frame SIG SAUER pistols.

With an overall length of just 5.5 inches a height of 3.96 inches, and weighing just under a pound, the SIG SAUER P238 is the ultimate firepower in an all metal frame concealed pistol. The P238 is built on an anodized alloy beavertail style frame with fluted aluminum grips for comfort and a secure hold during rapid-fire usage. The stainless steel slide features the popular SIG SAUER slide serrations and improves overall performance and accuracy.

Re: Bashing The Ruger LCP
 

If I am not mistaken the SIG is quite a bit heavier than the P3AT & LCP. There are already quite a few .380s that have a small footprint, but are much haevier.

For this reason I doubt the SIG will compete in the same "niche" as the P3AT & LCP.

There is also the price gap.... big issue for most people.